Nazanin Boniadi is an Iranian-American TV and film actress, as well as a prominent social activist. She is best known for her roles in the TV shows General Hospital, How I Met Your Mother and Homeland, and the movie Iron Man.

Early Life
Nazanin Boniadi was born in Tehran, Iran, on 22 May 1980. The Iranian revolution was at its peak during the time and Boniadi and her family soon moved to London, England. After completing her schooling, she moved to the United States of America and began pursuing a career in science. Boniadi received a bachelor`s degree with Honors in Biological Sciences, from the University of California, Irvine. She was also awarded the Chang Pin-Chun Undergraduate Research Award for her research work on cancer treatment and heart transplant rejection. She also worked as the Assistant Editor-in-Chief of her university`s undergrad medical newspaper, MedTimes.

Boniadi is the great great granddaughter of the iconic 19th-century Persian philosopher Safi Ali Shah.

Personal Life
Nazanin Boniadi was an advocate of Scientology, a body of religious beliefs and practices. She later left the Church of Scientology and called herself a nonpracticing Muslim. In the year 2004, she briefly dated actor Tom Cruise.

TV Career
In spite of being a promising scientist, in 2006 Boniadi decided to pursue her dream of acting. After a few minor assignments, she was awarded the role of Leyla Mir on the Emmy-Award winning medical drama General Hospital. Between 2007 and 2009, she appeared in over 100 episodes of the soap opera as well as a few episodes of its Soapnet spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift. The Iranian-born actress was even nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series. After playing minor roles in television shows like The Deep End, 24, Hawthorne, and Suits, Nazanin Boniadi was cast in the hugely popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She played the role of Barney Stinson`s on-and-off love interest, primarily between seasons six and seven.

Over the next few years, the actress played minor roles in CSI, Best Friends Forever, Go On, and Grey`s Anatomy. In 2013, she was signed on to play Fara Sherazi, a CIA analyst, in the American political thriller TV series Homeland. The following year, she appeared in another American political thriller TV show, Scandal. Boniadi featured in the third season of Scandal, playing the role of an antagonist.

Movie Career
One of her first films was the 2007 comedy movie Gameface. The following year saw the actress play the minor role of Amira Ahmed in the Robert Downey Jr.-starrer Iron Man (2008). In 2010, she was seen in Paul Haggis` vigilante thriller The Next Three Days. A few years later, Boniadi played the lead role in the romantic comedy Shirin in Love (2014). She was then seen in a film extremely close to her heart, Desert Dancer (2014). The movie was a British biographical drama film based on the true story of a young Iranian boy who chooses to pursue his dream of dancing, in spite of it being banned all over the country. Boniadi played a supporting role in this film, with actors Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto in the leads. In 2016, the actress was a part of Ben-Hur, a remake of the 1959 film by the same name. Boniadi plays the role of Esther, title character Judah Ben-Hur`s love interest.

His 2019 release includes Hotel Mumbai, directed by Anthony Maras.